ABOUT

Each year limited funding is available through the ACC International Academic Collaborative, to support undergraduate students from the 12 ACC schools in study abroad. Boston College students apply through the Office of International Programs. Two awards in the amount of $500 will be made for summer prorgams and four awards in the amount of $1,000 for semester and academic year programs.

Application Guidelines

Eligibility Requirments
The ACCIAC Global Scholarships are available to BC undergraduate students who plan to study on BC summer or semester and year programs abroad. Scholarship award recipients will be selected on the basis of merit. In order to apply, students must have begun the application process at OIP for the program they are planning to attend. Note that summer and semester/year programs have different application requirements and procedures. Summer applicants need to have submitted a complete program applciation online.

Deadlines
Summer 2013 programs: February 15, 2013

Fall 2013 and Full Year 2013-14: March 29, 2013

Spring 2014: TBA

We highly recommend that you submit your application at least a week prior to the deadline to ensure that you do not miss the deadline as a result of technical difficulties with your equipment/network as a result of heavy traffic before the deadline. Students must also allow sufficient time for faculty references to be received before the deadline.

Components of the Application
A complete application will consist of a Statement of Purpose Essay and a Faculty Reference. The essay is submitted online by the application deadline. In order to complete the application each candidate must select a BC faculty member who will respond to an electronic request for reference. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that the reference is also received by the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Statement of Purpose Guidelines
Your essay should be composed in Word format. Please be sure to include your name at the top of the page. Essays should be up to 5,000 characters in length (including spaces). When composing your statement it is important to address the following points:

Address the impact that your study abroad program will have on your academic goals.
^{For example:
·      What are some academic goals that you hope to accomplish abroad?
·      What impact will your choice of program and location have on your experience?
·      Why did you choose this program; are there unique components that fit well with your academic and future career goals?}
Discuss how you plan to integrate your study abroad experience within your overall Boston College education.
^{For example:
·      Will you take coursework abroad toward your major, minor or core?
·      Do you plan to focus on language study?}

Faculty Reference Guidelines
In order to complete the online application each student selects the name of a BC faculty member from an available list. Upon submission, selected faculty receive an automatically generated email from OIP. We request that faculty provide short answers to several questions regarding the student’s academic performance.  Faculty responses need to be received via email by the deadline. Students are responsible for submitting their applications in advance to allow faculty enough time for the reference.

Results
Students will be informed of the outcome via email approximately 3-6 weeks after the deadline. Those who are awarded grants will be required to accept their awards online. Grants will then post to students’ BC accounts and awards can be verified on Agora. Please note that awards are posted in December (Spring), June (Summer) and July-August (Fall and Academic Year).

Returning students
Upon return from abroad each student recipient of the ACCIAC scholarship will be contacted by OIP with a request and opportunity to reflect on their experience abroad and share her/his experience with perspective students. Program alumni are highly encouraged to share material on OIP social media platforms, including videos, blogs, photos, notes, and more. OIP reserves the right to feature recipients on the ACCIAC and OIP websites and to share information with the ACCIAC.

Questions
Questions can be directed to oipfel@bc.edu or Chrisitna Hatzipetros at dimitroc@bc.edu. Students are not required to meet with a scholarships advisor at OIP in order to apply.

APPLICATION DEADLINES

Spring 2013 programs:
October 12, 2012 CLOSED

Summer 2013 programs:
February 15, 2013

Fall & Academic Year 2013-14:
March 29, 2013

We are accepting applications. The deadline for Summer 2013 has been extended to February 15, 2013.